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DX-Chain God like!
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
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Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:24 am Post subject: TDMania 2vs2 Team Deathmatch League |
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Introduction
After toying around with the possibility of bringing competitive Team DM to ZDaemon, Fastidious and I decided to finally make concrete steps in that direction. The result is "TDMania," a league which we hope the community enjoys and is excited about, whether they compete or follow the action in the forums, servers, or IRC.
Now, you may be wondering "Why Team DM? Everyone plays CTF." While it's a well-known fact that CTF dominates the ZDaemon scene at the moment, Team DM has started to grab people's interest. What's unique about the TDMania format is that you won't be getting the usual "FFA-style" TDM experience that old servers used to provide, but instead an explosive mix of quality battlefields and settings that promote strategy and effective use of technical skill. What are these settings I'm talking about? Here is a list of some of the characteristics unique to TDMania:
a) The map/round ends after 10 minutes (no fraglimit)
b) Team damage is enabled (100% - you issue the same damage to teammates as you do enemies)
c) Force respawn is enabled (automatic respawn after one second from the time you were fragged)
A. Timelimit Deathmatch vs. Fraglimit Deathmatch
There are only advantages to a timed match in comparison to a fraglimit match. Let me present two scenarios:
First, a team that's leading 40-20 in a 50 fraglimit match will often times underestimate the opponent and may decide to screw around during those last frags. In a timed match (say, leading 40-20 with 6 minutes left) the leading team will have to keep pressure and stay active in order to keep that lead.
There is a difference between trailing 40-20 with 6 minutes left to trailing 40-20 in a 50 fraglimit match. Teams that are trailing have the opportunity to mount a comeback within the specified time without the psychological toll that the other team's lead may impose.
What both these things mean for spectators is that a match will not be a snooze fest (like some duels tend to be) and that for those 10 minutes, both teams will battle non-stop.
B. Team Damage
The introduction of team damage to competition means that matches will not consist of mindless spamming with rockets, plasma cells, or the BFG. Instead, players will be forced to use these weapons strategically as to reduce team casualties. Moreover, hitscan weapons will require the utmost precision and timing. The result? This helps players develop advanced skills that can benefit other aspects of their game such as 1vs1 and CTF.
What does it play like? Here is an example. Demo 1 is an Exec.wad session, while Demo 2 is a recording from a Lazarus1j.wad session. You'll notice a different style of play, but all in all it's a very intense format (a bit of a wait on the Lazarus demo at first, but it has an entire rotation of maps recorded).
C. Force Respawn
Finally, the third difference-maker in TDMania: Forced respawn. What this means is that a player that's fragged will automatically respawn after a period of time (in TDMania's case, the period is *one* second). What's the big deal with this? Basically, it:
*Prevents people from staying dead while the live teammate freely spams projectiles or BFG without experiencing the consequences of those actions. A 1vs2 TDM match can often be advantageous to the single player, especially with team damage enabled.
*Means that no teams can exploit a one-frag (or more) lead and stay dead for the remainder of the match until the time runs out.
*Speeds up the match, making for an even more intense contest.
Maps
I mentioned a point about "quality battlefields," so allow me to explain. In previous attempts at popularizing TDM, server admins resorted back to stone-age WADs which had maps that were more suitable for "fun" rather than an organized contest. TDMania will employ contemporary works that have TDM in mind, with maps that reward players for executing techniques like wallrunning, silent bfg, sr-50, and more. A list of WADs that may be used for this event include: Onsl3_.wad, Exec.wad, Lazarus.wad, UDM3.wad, Crudream.wad, and Vex-ZDaemon.wad.
The League
We want TDMania to be as player-friendly as possible. This is why many of the rules, procedures, and maps may be voted upon by participants. Stay tuned for such voting opportunities in the TDMania section of the Doomed Earth Forums and be sure to visit our official site at:
http://leagues.doomedearth.info/
The current administrative team consists of Chaindude and Fastidious--Don't hesitate to message us in private or seek live help in our IRC channel at irc.oftc.net #TDMania. The proposed start date for the league is May/June |
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Thadeuss Wicked Sick!
Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Location: www.areashiftybun.com
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Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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This is a very good idea. Goodluck with it. |
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Rosebird Dominating!
Joined: 04 Feb 2006
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:24 am Post subject: |
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Yeah nice idea but i'm guessing this is directed more towards the US/Canada as opposed to Europe etc?
I noticed you posted it in the General Tournament Discussion but if euros were to sign up, would they have to subject strictly to US servers or would some sort of compromise be made? |
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DX-Chain God like!
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:50 am Post subject: |
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In the rules draft I wrote, it specified that everyone is welcome (but yes, matches would have to be played in USA servers only). If there are only a couple Euro guys/gals interested, it would be tricky to make accommodations just for those players, but...
If there are enough Euro sign-ups (it wouldn't need to be as many as North America--just enough to do 8 teams, compared to 12 teams for NA), we'd be more than glad to set up a European division and run that as well. From then on, we could hopefully get support from one or two server admins so the matches also take place with friendlier ping . |
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WeaponX God like!
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 Location: Great Britain
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 2:14 am Post subject: |
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i say europe do the same thing and the winners of each ameria + europe play eachother each on their home ground |
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DX-Chain God like!
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 2:21 am Post subject: |
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WeaponX wrote: | i say europe do the same thing and the winners of each ameria + europe play eachother each on their home ground |
That'd be awesome actually. I know there was an Euro 2vs2 Team DM tourney not long ago with somewhat similar settings as TDMania (team damage mostly), so the concept is not completely out of the question.
Like I said, if enough Euro players sign up, it'd be grand to have both regions run a parallel season under the same roof. |
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Thadeuss Wicked Sick!
Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Location: www.areashiftybun.com
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:16 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: | i say europe do the same thing and the winners of each ameria + europe play eachother each on their home ground |
Good idea, and say each one more time, I dare ya! |
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Oath Posting Spree!
Joined: 06 Dec 2006 Location: Michigan
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111 |
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Kilgore Air Cavalry
Joined: 17 Jun 2003 Location: Up the river
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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Just a minor nitpick about the demos: can you please use the ZDaemon quasi-standard naming convention?- Use a double extension to indicate the demo version (eg., xxx.108.zdo)
- Use underscores to separate the pwad name from the oher prefix (eg., xxxx_exec.108.zdo)
I know it sounds pedantic, but we will all benefit if we use the convention. |
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DX-Chain God like!
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
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Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:20 am Post subject: |
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Kilgore: Will do
As for the earlier demos, they have team damage on, but this following one has the entire TDMania ruleset (plus timelimit):
http://doomedearth.info/chaindude/Exec-TDMania-settings.108.zip
Also, for any European players interested in participating, we now have support from FastHostsUK! See this for more details . |
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[EG]Marine Posting Spree!
Joined: 02 Sep 2007 Location: Central FL
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Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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I'll be active on this one, can never say no to frags. |
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DX-Chain God like!
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:27 pm Post subject: |
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Sign-ups have started for the TDMania 2vs2 team deathmatch league! We've amassed quite the following in a short period of time, and from various nationalities and regions of the map. As before, the season will run 6 weeks for group play (aka "regular season") and an additional 2 weeks for playoffs and finals.
Besides sign-ups and teams being formed (directions on how to do this are on the site), map voting has also started on the Doomed Earth forums (this is optional of course).
Any other details can be answered by looking at the site. As a side note, all regions will run parallel to each other (same deadlines and maps/settings), and of course each region has its own set of servers:
North America Region:
Doomed Earth - Dallas, Texas - USA
WOLF Servers - Atlanta, Georgia - USA
European Region
L@P - Germany
Platinum Servers - UK
FastHostsUK - UK*
HorizoN Servers - France*
Oceania Region
GameArena - Australia
*These servers may provide a weekly Zserv once the season starts
Key dates/deadlines:
Map voting: Closes on Monday, April 7.
Sign-Ups: Closes on Sunday, April 13.
SEASON START DATE:
-Week One (Map TBA) - Monday, April 14 through Sunday, April 20.
If you have any questions, please contact me, Fastidious, or StealthCP at irc.oftc.net, #TDMania (for directions on how to get there, look here). |
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Eagle-Eye God like!
Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Location: League Master Clan: .CI.
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Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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D%<
Awesome can't wait to get started |
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DX-Chain God like!
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
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Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:22 pm Post subject: |
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I forgot to add, these are the remaining spots for each region:
North America Region: 18 spots out of 18 are filled
European Region: 12 spots out of 12 are filled
Oceania Region: 8 spots out of 6 are filled ()
Additional player/team signups may serve as substitutes or "free agents" in case other players/teams drop.
Last edited by DX-Chain on Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:13 pm; edited 4 times in total |
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Xenaero Unstoppable!
Joined: 23 May 2003 Location: United States Clan: UniDoom
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Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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This is gonna ROCK! If you haven't found someone to partner with and signed up yet, I suggest you do! |
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Tai*WarGreymon YOU PERVERTS!!!1
Joined: 19 Apr 2002
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 4:43 am Post subject: |
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I just wanna say that this is indeed awesome. TDM is one thing, but unlike IDL, it even has a European and Oceanic league. The fact that's even possible is simply awesome. : ) |
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TheMionicDonut God like!
Joined: 28 Jan 2007 Location: Burgertopia
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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The Maps could be better though |
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WhiteKnight Unstoppable!
Joined: 16 Jun 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 1
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 7:07 pm Post subject: |
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TheMionicDonut wrote: | The Maps could be better though |
There's always next season! |
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DX-Chain God like!
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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Donut: Everyone knows there were 3 maps per WAD--a whopping 18 maps--that people could vote on. I encouraged as many people as possible to vote, at the point of nearly pestering them, and the current map list was at the hands of those who did vote.
The current map list is quite good imo, as it has various styles of play involved (the super fast, aggressive Exec, contrasting with the strategic Lazarus and Onslaught 3). |
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